


Cold Water

by sheron



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Getting Together, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, M/M, Trapped, Worried Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22304998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheron/pseuds/sheron
Summary: A routine mission turns into a deathtrap when Steve is caught in fast-rising water.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 32
Kudos: 236
Collections: You Gave Me A Stocking 2019





	Cold Water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vorkosigan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vorkosigan/gifts).



> Written for "You Gave Me A Stocking" exchange, with thanks to ishipallthings for the beta. The basic scenario is taken from an episode of the ER. I hope you enjoy the story!

The torrential dark water came up to Steve's chest before the thought occurred to him that he might not make it.

He was still trying to wrestle the heavy grate off his leg with unsteady, cold hands, and it stubbornly refused to budge, essentially pinning him in place to the floor. The cold did not affect him as quickly as a regular person, but even with the benefits of the serum, his body was struggling to cope after being submerged in the icy water for so long. Tony had been gone for thirty six minutes since Steve started counting them in his head, to keep his focus. The one saving grace was Tony had been uninjured in the tunnel collapse, except for minor bruising, and after they had been unable to pull Steve right leg out on their own, he'd gone looking for help.

In that moment, Steve heard splashing from the entrance of the tunnel and naturally thought he was imagining it. Then, with enormous relief, he recognized Tony, even in the near dark. 

He had come back. Ever since Ultron, it had been slowly dawning on Steve how much he relied on Tony just being there.

Letting out a shuddering breath of relief that surged up inside him, Steve waited for Tony to wade closer through the tunnel that was only at most two-thirds of his height. It forced Tony to hunch down while he moved along, until he crouched in front of the thick grate that separated the two of them.

"Hey, hey, you alright there?" Tony panted, wrapping his fingers around the bars to keep steady as the dark water rushed past them. Even though he could keep out of the water when he stood up, Tony was soaked through and through, previously-white shirt clinging to his shoulders and his wet hair plastered to his forehead. "I'm getting you out, okay." After a moment, he reached through the thick moss-covered bars with one hand and grasped Steve by the shoulder, shaking him a little. "Stay up, soldier." Steve realized he'd started to slip, and tried to shake himself awake. "That's it," Tony encouraged him, trying to keep hold of Steve while water swirled around him.

Tony said something else from the other side of the grate that led to freedom, but Steve had only heard the noise of the waterfall thundering into the tunnel somewhere behind him. A dam had overflown with the heavy torrential rain and Steve was downstream of it. 

Startled, he felt Tony's hands rub up and down his arms, briskly, as if that would warm Steve up, before he evidently gave that up as useless. The water was too cold and there was too much of it. With a frustrated snarl, Tony kicked at the grate with his foot, but it failed to budge as before and only made him wince. "You gotta stay awake, okay?" Tony yelled at him, above the noisy gurgling of water. His hands were suddenly cupping Steve's face, gentle at odds with the audible anger in his voice. Cold bare fingers pressed against Steve's skin. Why wasn't he in his suit? 

Steve fought with his memory, before a fuzzy recollection of that evening surfaced. They'd been at an arms dealer conference; Tony couldn't bring his suit because of security concerns from the organizers. That's why Steve was accompanying him in the first place, acting as a sort of bodyguard. At least that was before they'd ended up chasing the bad guys through the underground tunnels beneath the town, ending up in this older section connected to the water system.

"Steve!" Tony's voice seemed to come from far away. He sounded odd; frightened.

"I'm okay," Steve mumbled, managing to open his eyes that had started to slide shut. He tried to focus on Tony. "D-did you find help?" He knew if he didn't get out of here in the next ten minutes, the water would cover his head. Breathing underwater was not his forte.

"The whole island has no power; it's mayhem out there," Tony said, which Steve took to mean they were on their own. His heart sank a little more. The cold of the water suddenly registered more strongly, as if the knowledge unlocked some secret pathway in his head, and he shivered. Tony was telling him something; Steve focused on his voice rather than the thought of drowning. "Half the roads are flooded. I stole a big ass crane, I'm gonna hook it up to the grate and I'm gonna yank this sucker out. Then I'll come get you, okay? But you need to stay awake! Can you do that?" he sounded alarmed.

"A crane?" Steve murmured to himself, trying to connect the dots as to how a crane helped them. He was stuck a few dozen feet inside a tunnel. He knew if he could just focus, he'd understand Tony, who seemed to be leaps and bounds ahead of him.

"Yeah, a good, big crane, buddy," Tony answered kindly, patting Steve's cheek. "Gonna work us a miracle here. You with me?"

"I'm with you," Steve responded, gathering himself and pushing away his weariness. He shook his head to clear it, and that helped. The water was lapping at his chin now, and he couldn't stand up, as much as he wanted to get out of this cold, murky water — he couldn't, without ripping his right leg off. The grate's thick wrought beams pressed down on each side of his thigh, neatly keeping him locked in place on the floor of the tunnel. 

On the other side of this inadvertent prison, Tony was still peering into his face, studying him as if to determine if he'd be alright on his own again. The moonlight coming from the far-away opening was just enough for Steve to see the paleness of Tony's face. Tony was spending too much time worrying; he needed to act. Steve had to put aside his own fears and help Tony.

"Go," Steve said, even though the thought of being alone in the dark once again was a gnawing chasm. Steve met Tony's glittering, worried eyes with as much calm certainty as he could imbue in his expression. Looking torn, Tony swallowed and nodded agreement; he moved to leave, turning away.

On impulse, Steve caught his wrist at the last moment, stopping him in his tracks. Tony's look back at him was terrified beyond measure, as if he had only barely controlled his expression when he'd known Steve would see. Before Tony could even try to compose himself again, Steve squeezed his wrist. "If anything happens—No, _wait_ , Tony, if anything goes wrong, this wasn't your fault. I need you to know that!"

A moment of silence lingered. "I know that," Tony whispered, just above the sound of running water. He yanked weakly at his wrist, and after another quick squeeze for reassurance, Steve forced himself to let go. 

"It's gonna be fine," Steve told him. Tony threw him another wild look, full of unspoken words, and turned to leave.

Steve knew he might never see him again. He watched Tony scramble back out through the length of the tunnel, disappearing behind the corner and, it felt like, taking all the remaining light with him. 

Steve lifted his chin up high, to keep the water from getting into his mouth.

The following minutes dragged on interminably. Steve strained against the confinement, trying to wiggle his leg free, hoping against hope that he might just get lucky and the trap that held him so securely would suddenly spring open. He wasn't cold anymore, but still had enough presence of mind to register this as a bad sign. Movement became difficult, as if he was wading through a thick bog, with dense weeds tangling up his limbs. He couldn't feel the leg that was pinned down at all. He thought he could hear distant sounds from outside, something like a clang of metal. He imagined it could be Tony, hooking up a chain or maybe repositioning the crane next to the entrance. The remaining light had all but vanished, and Steve could barely see the water gurgling around him, pouring out into the reservoir outside.

He strained to keep his head above the water, tilting it back, and it was in the midst of this Steve realized Tony was next to the grate again. He was working on attaching a large metal hook to the iron beams from the other side, a flashlight between his teeth spraying wild streaks of light around the muddy grey concrete walls. Steve's ears were underwater by then, but he thought he heard his name or might have felt a touch against his face one last time. There was a great deal of noise, just before water closed over his head.

The next thing Steve became aware of, was a contusion against his head, slowly grasping he'd tumbled over in the water. With the grate out of the way, no longer keeping him pinned down in place, the running water bowled him over and carried him a few feet. He'd struck the concrete side-wall with the side of his head, which jerked him out of his stupor enough to try to get his bearings. Underwater, everything was black; he shut his burning eyes and tried to navigate simply by feel, grasping at the walls of the tunnel to guide him.

Then another pair of hands were grasping him around the chest, and he was pulled up, up out of the water until he surfaced with a big gasp. Tony was right next to him, grasping at his midriff, and yanking him up by whatever he could grab, by his shirt, and pulling him closer by the waist. They shuffled the remaining distance to the entrance of the tunnel, and dropped several feet over the edge into the reservoir of water with a big splash.

By that point, Steve was so out of it, he couldn't remember why he was struggling anymore. He knew he'd have to swim, he'd have to try to get to his feet and find land, but try telling that to his body. His limbs refused to cooperate. So, for a moment, he just let himself sink; but only for a moment. Air bubbled out of his lips, and he felt the burn of water enter his lungs. 

Time blurred.

He came to, on the muddy ground on the side-bank, on his hands and feet coughing up water. Tony was at his side, patting his back. 

"Good God, Rogers," Tony sighed with heavy relief, in perfect summation of the dire peril they'd barely escaped from.

When he was done hacking up a lung, Steve let himself collapse down onto the ground, using the last remnants of his strength to roll onto his back. Tony flopped down next to him, equally spent. Their fingers almost but didn't quite touch.

"We should get moving," Steve articulated what he wanted to be happening. 

"Yeah," Tony answered back in the same tone. They didn't move. "In a minute."

For a little while they just lay there on their backs next to one another, unheeding even of the mild drizzle that pelted them from above. Steve's right leg ached as if bruised, but it wasn't a bad kind of pain. Out of the corner of his eye, Steve could see the reassuring rise and fall of Tony's chest. The summer air was warm, and feeling was returning to every part of his body, bit by bit. His lips tingled.

Steve stared up into the starry sky, wide-eyed with a sudden thought. "Did you give me mouth-to-mouth?" 

"I _did not_ kiss you!" Tony cried out from the side, his voice touched with both indignation and laughter, full of relief. He kicked his heel out at Steve's ankle, very lightly for all the rebuke in it, and for good measure, slapped at Steve's chest with the back of his palm. Tony's hand flopped there, lingering on top of Steve's chest, and rested, as if he didn't have the energy to move it away.

A laugh snagged on Steve's breath from that reaction, from catching the amusement in Tony's voice, his characterization of the emergency CPR technique as a kiss of life. His gasp of a laugh sparked off an answering chortle from Tony. For a few moments they both lay on the ground, chuckling at nothing, as adrenaline worked itself out of their systems. They were both soaked, but neither one cared. They were alive! Eventually, their breaths grew steady. Then, as the silence grew heavier, Tony suddenly said, "Why, did you _want_ me to kiss you?"

Tony asked it so casually, pointedly. Steve could have turned it into a joke. He didn't.

While Steve lay silent and still, Tony rolled over on his side, turning to Steve and propping his head up on an elbow. He studied Steve's face while Steve let him, not looking away from his study of the night sky. He waited for Tony to make the call, ignoring the rising urge to reach over, to seek the warmth of his body and pull him closer that seemed to always live dormant in his hands.

After a moment's hesitation, Tony scooted over closer to Steve, sliding a careful hand on top of his sternum, in a half embrace. "I wouldn't say no," he whispered, butting his forehead against Steve's cheek, breath hot next to his ear. 

"You wouldn't?" Steve found himself asking, somehow surprised how real the words sounded when spoken out-loud, and not only in his head. He didn't dare move lest he break this spell. Tony shook his head and silently nuzzled his cheek, as if that was his answer. Steve shivered, and not from the cold. 

Then the temptation was suddenly over in lurch of movement, as Tony pulled back away in one swift move, and sat up.

"Now up, up, up! We need to go see if anyone else needs our help." He climbed to his feet with obvious effort, then offered his hand to Steve to help him rise. Wiggled his fingers when Steve just stared at them, shocked to have the flirtation yanked away from him so completely.

With a long breath that he didn't want to admit was a sigh of regret, Steve clasped Tony's hand in his and used it to pull himself to his feet. Their eyes met for a long moment and held. 

Steve knew, in his heart, this was it.

Tony was going to let go of his hand, he was so obviously ready to step back, but Steve didn't let him. He used their clasped hands to pull Tony flush to himself instead, until Tony fell against his chest, his free hand rising to lay on Steve's shoulder for balance. Steve slid the other arm around his waist, holding him close. He still couldn't quite speak from the nerves, so they just looked at each other: Tony wide-eyed and startled, and Steve...he didn't know what expression was on his face, only that he wasn't letting go this time.

"People need saving, Cap," Tony reminded, with a shaky note in his voice, but made no other move. His breath came in short spasms, acutely obvious where their chests pressed against one another. Steve wasn't much better. He was so nervous he could hardly think straight, but somehow his voice came out okay when he asked, insistent:

"You wouldn't?"

Tony moved his gaze down to the space between their chests, his free hand worried the material of Steve's shirt. "Well. As it happens. I have a lot of trouble saying no to you in general. Or keeping away. As a matter of fact this is something that you should probably already be aware of. As a thing. That I have trouble with. Or, you know, not kissing you, but in a totally non-life-saving way except, I uh, kind of think it might be? Life-saving? Life-altering, maybe? I mean, you do; you know?" He stared at Steve as if any of that made sense — it made perfect sense to Steve at that exact moment — and started to wind down with a stuttering, "And I—I—I need that." His eyes grew wider yet as he paused. "Wow,"— Tony went to jerk back, stopped by Steve's arm around him holding on tight—"I just said a lot of things I wish I didn't."

"I get it," Steve rushed to assure him, running a calming hand down his back. "You were scared—"

"I wasn't scared—!"

"—but if it's more than that—"

"—more than what?"

"—then I wouldn't say no, either," Steve finished softly. His heart beat like it would jump out of his chest. But Tony didn't move away and deep inside him, Steve thought he knew what it all meant. What that moment in the dark had been about, when he'd not been able to let Tony go, and Tony couldn't part with him either.

"....You wouldn't?" Tony stared at him in wonder, and it was a good look on him.

Steve smiled, happy all of a sudden. He felt like warm sunlight had touched his skin — except it was still dark, even with the half-moon out, and all of it was only Tony, only _because_ of Tony. He said, "We just had this conversation."

Tony gave his point the long consideration it deserved. "Sure did." He bit his lower lip, eyes running over Steve's face and especially his mouth, considering. "You, uh, wanna do something else?" 

"Yes." Steve nodded eagerly, moving closer yet, until their breaths mingled. Tony's lips stretched in an answering smile; irrepressible. 

Steve had the time to tack on, "And then we should go and help," before Tony pulled him into a kiss.


End file.
